UFC 264 was one of the most talked-about cards in the history of the sport. The event hosted one of the strongest preliminary cards in recent memory. Ryan Hall faced rising prospect Ilia Topuria at UFC 264.
Here's an analysis of their styles and a look at how the fight unfolded.
Fighter Backgrounds
Ilia Topuria is a highly regarded prospect at 145lbs. He holds an undefeated record at 10-0, with two wins in the UFC. “El Matador” made his UFC debut on Fight Island after an emphatic victory at Brave CF. He defeated Youssef Zalal by unanimous decision, then he stopped Damon Jackson back in December.
Prior to his entrance into the UFC, Ilia was best known for his powerful and explosive jiu-jitsu game, finishing his first seven opponents via submission.
Ryan Hall is 8-1 as a professional and was 4-0 inside the UFC. He had two wins over former lightweight champions, BJ Penn and Gray Maynard. Since winning The Ultimate Fighter in 2015, Hall had only been able to compete in the cage a mere three times, although not from lack of trying. It had long been believed that a lack of willing challengers have been an obstacle that Hall has faced, being unranked but one of the most dangerous fighters in the featherweight division.
Read also: Record Ilia Topuria Sale
Betting Odds and Predictions
As it stood, Ilia Topuria was the betting favorite in their matchup as he sat at -250 on Fanduel Sportsbook. Hall was at +198. If you favored Ryan Hall as a live underdog and really wanted to up the ante, Hall by points was +500 and Hall by submission was +650. Topuria rarely goes the distance and the odds for Topuria within rounds 1 and 2 were enticing.
Hall vs. Ilia Topuria was the betting favorite heading into the featherweight clash at UFC 264. Conor McGregor vs. Stephen Thompson vs. Sean O’Malley vs. Tai Tuivasa vs. Yana Kunitskaya vs. Niko Price vs. Omari Akhmedov vs. Zhalgas Zhumagulov vs. Alen Amedovski vs. How to watch Ryan Hall vs. Watch Ryan Hall vs. Ilia Topuria and the complete UFC 264 fight card featuring Conor McGregor vs. Dustin Poirier 3 only on ESPN+ this Saturday, July 10.
Fighting Styles
Both fighters at their core are fundamentally grapplers, and it is likely that they will get the opportunity to see high-level jiu-jitsu exchanges often.
Ryan Hall
Ryan Hall has a style unique to him. Many strikers enter MMA and abandon flashier kicks and light-footedness in order to better ready themselves to defend takedowns. Hall is the opposite, he often favors low percentage moves such as hook kicks as well as many spinning and jumping attacks. Due to his preferred striking set, Hall works best from the outside, throwing more point-like strikes to frustrate his opponents and control their movements, sneaking in power strikes when that frustration kicks in or exploding into imanari rolls (rolling for a leg).
On the ground, Hall is a submission specialist. He is best known for his leg locks due to his proficiency with them on The Ultimate Fighter, as well as his stunning finish of UFC legend BJ Penn. His style varies, we have seen him catch a submission in an instant and we have also seen him ride out fights using back control to secure a comfortable decision, but in both cases what brought him to victory was a methodical BJJ game.
Read also: The Story of Ilia Topuria
Ilia Topuria
Topuria’s style by comparison is much more boxing-heavy. Utilizing a high guard, Topuria will walk down his opponents, taking care to control the center of the Octagon and ripping vicious body shots in order to open up opportunities upstairs. But, as an explosive fast starter, it is common for Topuria to start a round better than he ends it, whether he is striking or grappling Topuria tends to fade but resurges after his break between rounds. This is unlike Hall, who due to a high level of relaxation during his fights, moves particularly efficiently and at an easier pace.
When frustrated or hurt on the feet, he will go to his bread and butter double leg takedown which is one of the most explosive today. Once he secures that top position, he is very difficult to move, floating from mount to side control to back control. However, as in his striking, his grappling is done with 100% effort all the time, and he breaks down his opponents but in doing so often saps his own cardio to an extent. That being said, his wide array of submissions cause him to always be a threat throughout the fight. He has finished fights via a variety of submissions including armbar, anaconda, triangle, guillotine, and rear-naked chokes. In every position in the fight, one has to be wary of these submissions and many more.
According to Topuria: “In reality, he has a very rare style, but where I grow up in the gym, we have close to thirty black belts,” explained Topuria. “I have a lot of guys there who have a very similar style to him. So for me his style is very familiar. “For me, he’s like a normal person. Nothing special for me,” Topuria later added.
Fight Recap
The first round began with Hall circling on the outside. Crowd chanting USA. Topuria just kind of following him. One minute in as Topuria blocks a spinning wheel kick. Hall tries to roll in, lays on his back. Hall stands. Hall tries the roll again. Topuria kicks the leg, and Hall stands. Hall tries rolling again, stands. Two minutes in. Another roll attempt, Hall catches hold of him briefly and Topuria escapes. Hall stands. Hall tries yet another roll. Topuria gets the back, Hall tries to go for the leg, Topuria pulls free and Hall stands. Topuria lands a pair of lefts, nothing flush. He drops Hall with a right, lets him up. Hall tries rolling again, Topuria pounces to side control, gets the back, escapes, lets Hall up. Three minutes in. Hall lands a body kick. And another, tries another roll. He tries again, so weird. Stands. Crowd is getting tired of it. Hall kind of bends over, he's gonna suffer for it from a kick eventually. Hall rolls yet again. Stands. Four minutes in. Rogan mocks the "unschooled mouthbreathers" booing in the audience. Hall rolls unsuccessfully. He stands. Topuria blocks a wheel kick. 35 seconds left. Hall tries another spinning kick, flops to his back, eats several right hammerfists. Topuria landing big rights and Hall's out, the fight's over. Wow.
"You got caught unfortunately," the ref tells Hall. That felt like an inevitability. Topuria remains undefeated and remains a problem in the featherweight division, and I doubt Hall will have as much trouble trying to get fights now. There's a pathway to victory.
Read also: The Sound of Topuria's Entrance
Hall classily applauds as the official decision is announced. Topuria bows to him and shakes his hand.
Post-Fight Analysis
Topuria (10-0) had an interesting assignment this weekend: he’s been paired up against jiu-jitsu ace Ryan Hall.
That doesn’t mean he plans on rolling with Hall. But if it happens, it happens, seems to be Topuria’s thinking. “Of course I’m going to try to be in stand-up all the time, but I have no problem to go with him to the ground. Because if you see him, he has four fights in the UFC, and he has just one submission, against a BJ Penn who wasn’t the same guy we were watching like ten years ago,” Topuria exclaimed. “He was an older man. [Hall] got the submission, but he had another three fights, and it was like disgusting. As for Hall’s stand-up? “Man, come on. He’s very bad in striking.
Stylistically, this was one of the best fights on the UFC 264 card. Ryan “The Wizard” Hall is a terrible matchup for anyone in the featherweight division. His grappling ability made this fight intriguing from the opening bell. If Hall was able to get the fight to the ground, he should have had the advantage even with Topuria’s background in BJJ. However, on the feet, Topuria was able to win the striking exchanges. He had to defend the prominent imanari roll from Hall, but if he could keep the fight at a kickboxing range, Topuria was the superior striker.
The featherweight division has not seen the influx of contenders it once appeared to have. With no date set for the featherweight title to be defended and with the recent withdrawal of a high-profile matchup, the 145lb division still appears to be stagnant going into the second half of 2021. Hall and Topuria are on the outside looking in. Neither fighter is ranked inside the top 15, but take that with a grain of salt. The winner definitely has a case to be alongside the next tier of featherweights.